Paulownia tree owners????

[Sonoran Silkies]

"Invasive" in one place is not necessarily so in another. For example, Brazilian Pepper trees are considered invasive in Florida, but here in Arizona, they are very popular, and are very definitly not invasive. Ours is one of my favourite trees.

That said, read up on local sources for the paulownia--local arboretum, county extension, mastewr gardener's sites, etc. andd get answers for your area.

 

[CORNISH_MAN]

I have WHAT in my yard? :

Some areas consider these trees to be an invasive species and really try to discourage your planting them.

At one point the wood was very valuable and people were planting them all over the place here in the states. The wood was very valuable in Japan in particular. Then the market for it totally crashed. I am not certain of why, I *think* Japan banned the import of it from the U.S.

Anyway, I am surprised your having trouble growing it, around here they grow like weeds and you cannot transport in live trees and seeds are strongly discouraged.

We have TONS of them. They are pretty in the spring and good shade trees but they are a hollow limbed tree so yes you get pretty good limb loss in high winds.

But, we get serious limb loss from tulip poplar too.... The kids like them because they pick up these huge branches and look really strong. We video tape them carting this huge limbs around! Like balsa the wood is so light its useless.

Are you looking for rapid growth??

There are several varieties of this tree that not considered invasive. Yes I am looking for fast growth.​

 

[bdfive]

Don't know if I can bring this thread back to life but will see. I planted 3 or the Princess Paulownia trees last summer about 30 miles north of San Antonio, TX in the TX Hill Country. It's yet to be seen how they will grow in this rock and limestone but so far I'm thrilled. One grew from 16 inches to 12 feet in less then 4 months. They are full of leaves now and I'm looking forward to hopefull another 10 feet or so of growth. The others I planted later and are 7 to 8 feet high. All 3 had flowers at the beginning of Spring. There are different varities of them. I'll find out which one I have. I bought them in a pot, about 16 inches high from a lady that sells them on Craiglist. I've heard they are difficult to start from seed or when getting the unleafed twig in the mail like some trees are sold. I have friends that planted some and they are doing well. Either this type aren't invasive or they aren't invasive in this area of the country. Regardless, I don't mind if they spread. We have Oak Wilt slowly invading our Live Oak trees in the TX Hill Country turning forests into prarie in some cases so having Paulownia for shade and beauty is welcome. I'd love to hear from others that have planted or want to.

 

[SunflowerKing]

The Paulowina tree, or Empress Tree is considered a nuisance tree. They are difficult to kill. They have dinnerplate sized leaves, and grow very rapidly with beautiful blossoms in the spring. Since they are difficult to kill, I would say they are fine in storms as they will always come back. They are a little flimsy their first year however. We had one when I lived in NC.

Seems like a decent chop and drop tree? Just coppice it every year and feed it to your, plants, worms, chickens, goats?